Boatloads of Mizuaoi

 By Shintaro Araki

The paintings in this exhibition were borne out of the “Mizuaoi Project.”  Mr. Araki has been a member of this group project since 2017.

The Mizuaoi Project, initiated by a group of artists receiving a seed found in Fukushima from an artist, Shigenobu Yoshida, celebrates the “rebirth” of the nearly extinct Mizuaoi plant. Monochria korsakowii or Mizuaoi in Japanese is a genus of flowering plants in the Pontederiaceae, and is considered a weed species in Japan, and is always exterminated so as not to corrupt rice cultivation.

Thought to have been eradicated throughout most the country, the Mizuaoi lay dormant until the Great East Japan Earthquake, on March 11, 2011, and tsunami, brought the Mizuaoi seed back to life and sparked a poetic Movement, spreading the Mizuaoi image as a symbol of hope, and regeneration throughout Japanese society.  Japan has just experienced another earthquake, on January first of this year.

Members of the Mizuaoi Project cultivate the plants in pots, metaphorically referred to as “Boats” and distribute their boats nationwide. Mr. Araki has expressed his relationship to the plant and the project in this way: “In this project, Mizuaoi has planted in the pots and displayed with paintings. Looking at the pots of Mizuaoi scattered all over Japan, I feel as if the Mizuaoi is an evangelist traveling in the boats telling the story of the earthquake and tsunami disaster to the people. I would like to portray this kind of image.”